Something Different (About Her)
Chapter 5: Something Different (About Her) There's something different about Annabeth and Percy loves her for it. ''Annabeth meet's his mom and also has the misfortune to meet Smelly Gabe. 'On the bright side, Gabe no longer lives in the Jackson apartment after Annabeth (with a little assistance from Percy) gets rid of him.'' *(See the end of the chapter for notes.) Percy knows that he's seen better days, and he knows it's silly but Annabeth is a girl he just met that really likes, and he's a little self-conscious at the idea that she can see him pretend sleeping on the couch, a blanket spread over his cold-again-hot-again body and snoring loudly while his hair gets mussed and fussed and green mucus glides from his nostrils. At one point, when she'd probably thought he was too out of it to understand what she was saying, she whispered in a rather amused tone: "You drool when you sleep." That was enough to make tiny alarm bells go off in his mind and through his barely awake state he can remember cursing his sleeping etiquette before falling back into deeper slumber. But it's also when Percy's sweating and shivering through the next three nights that he really gets closer with Annabeth. It started the day she first came over, after forcing him to down an entire bowl of broth, she did something Percy hadn't expected at all. The entire experience was fuzzy and disorienting, but somewhere through the night he remembered waking up with a throbbing headache and feeling so feverish and warm. His sleep was riddled with tosses ad turns, groans and grunts. He must have made some sort of pained noise because just as the fever peaked and Percy was sweating and shuddering and just absolutely miserable Annabeth suddenly appeared at his side and wrapped him gently in her arms whispering words of comfort. Percy couldn't recall anything else except that Annabeth had left briefly to wet a cloth and place it on his much-to-warm-forehead and ever since that he'd felt a little better than before and his spirits soared a little higher. The second time Percy woke, or the second time he remembered anything really, was when Annabeth's watch started beeping. He heard scuffling through the dark and forced himself to lift his head and look at her, concerned something had happened. She was sitting on the floor beside him, a book clutched in her right hand and her watch blaring in her left. Her face burned red as she managed to turn the alarm off and grey eyes met sea green ones. But instead of asking about the clock or being irritated Percy only asked: "What book are you reading?" Annabeth held up the book cover so he could see and Percy had to squint to see it through the dim lighting of the room. "A-ah...architecture..?" His drift off and it sounds more like a question than anything else. Annabeth tried to hide her smile. "It says Architectural Drafting and Design, Percy." "Why would you want to read a book about architecture?" "Why wouldn't you?" Percy can't come up with an answer so he doesn't and they lapse back into a comfortable silence. After awhile he's snoring lightly and Annabeth is turning pages every couple minutes and it's peaceful. The third thing that Percy can look back on is when he hears shouts and things thudding against the floor. It was harder than usual to open his heavy sleep-filled eyes and he forced himself to sit up and take in the situation. Annabeth stood with her back to him and her Architectural Drafting and Design book held threateningly in the air. Just a few feet away stood Smelly Gabe, Percy's part time abusive step-father part time poker player and alcoholic. "Stay away from him," Annabeth had said, her voice low and serious. "Look kid," Gabe had taken a slight lumbering step toward his own voice disturbingly calm. "This is my house, not yours. If I say he's gonna get up and go to the store, it don't matter how sick or lazy he is. He's gonna do whatever I say 'cause I'm his father." Gabe's voice rose an octave. "Now get out before I make you." Annabeth however did not move and when Gabe surged forward to do who knows what, Annabeth smacked him with her book as hard as she possibly could then administered a kick to the place where the sun doesn't shine. There's a loud grunt and then a crashing sound. By this time Percy had managed to untangle from his sheets and launch himself at his step-father with a strangled coughing yell but there really wasn't anything left to be done. He got in a few punches but he was really much too weak and sick to be doing anything. Each blow was wildly placed and probably didn't even hit his ugly step-dad. Percy couldn't even remember if he said anything before or after trying to maul the older man or what happened after he dragged himself from the couch. Couldn't anyone get it through their minds that if they tried to hurt or mistreat Annabeth in any way he would personally check them into a hospital room? The next time Percy returned to the world of the living he was laying back on the couch, Gabe was gone (and now that he thinks about it there was no sign that he'd been there at all except that some of the pages in Annabeth's book were slightly bent) and his mom was sitting with Annabeth on the carpet. They were talking in hushed voices and it took Percy a moment to realize they were talking about him. "He didn't tell you then?" His mom had been saying. This sparked Percy's interest and he knew it was probably wrong to listen but he couldn't help himself. He shifted ever so slightly so he could listen better then lay quietly. "Tell me what?" Annabeth sounded confused which wasn't surprising since Percy was confused himself. "Gabe isn't his real father. No, Poseidon left some time ago, he was in the navy you see and well...he was reported MIA and hasn't been heard from since. That drunkard we just dropped off at that hotel was actually a rather nice guy who showed his true colors after marriage and even if I'd wanted him to leave I couldn't figure out a way to say it. I always knew he wasn't nice to Percy but I thought...I'm not sure what I thought." His mom paused and there's no mistaking the regret in her voice before she carried on to say: "But no matter. It's done and that was yesterday, this is today and there's a new dawn on the horizon." Percy smiled at that, his mom used to tell him that when he had a bad day at school, a less than passing grade or unpleasant people ridiculing him and his friend Grover. Now she didn't because they hardly ever saw each other anymore since she was always working. He also expected Annabeth to snort at the slight cheesiness of the line but she didn't. She just nodded and said something Percy couldn't make out. His mom replied with a chuckle then added, "Call me Sally." Yes, there is something different about this girl and Percy can't help but love her more for it. '''Notes: Next chapter is Annabeth. It's been two weeks of getting to know each other and they're both blissfully happy. until (there's always something that goes wrong isn't there?) Rachel Elizabeth Dare. But fortunately for Annabeth the tags in this story are Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson and not Rachel Elizabeth Dare/Percy Jackson. *NEXT CHAPTER *PREVIOUS CHAPTER *BLUE CUPCAKES INDEX Category:Blue Cupcakes Category:Hunter's little collection of Fanfiction Category:HunterofArtemis12 Category:Fanfiction